There’s no doubt about the health risks of smoking. Apart from the long-term risks of heart disease, lung disease and cancer, health problems that can develop after even a short period of smoking include cough, shortness of breath and stamina, stained teeth, bad breath, eye irritation and earlier wrinkling of the skin.
Community attitudes to smoking are changing slowly; more people are giving up. Concern for the danger of passive smoking has resulted in more public places where smoking is prohibited. Yet young people are still starting to smoke. A recent survey showed that three out of ten 15-19-year-olds smoke, though most were smoking irregularly or less than five cigarettes a day. By the age of 17, twice as many girls as boys smoke, which is a worry. There are special concerns for women who smoke.
• If you continue to smoke during pregnancy, your unborn baby is at increased risk of stillbirth, prematurity and an abnormally low birth weight.
• If you smoke while breast-feeding your baby may have nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and rapid heart rate from the nicotine passed through milk, and the baby’s lungs are at risk of the effects of passive smoking.
• Women who smoke are at greater risk of some rare but dangerous effects of the contraceptive Pill (thrombosis).
• Women who smoke have a greater chance of developing brittle bones (osteoporosis) in later life.
Not enough publicity is given to how addictive nicotine is. You can get hooked more quickly than you think, perhaps after just a couple of packs. However, if you can stop smoking before you’re 25, the increased health risks disappear. It’s much easier never to start than to stop smoking, but if you do smoke and want to stop, ‘Quit for Life’ kits and other aids are available.
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